DOT plans for 2019 construction on Milwaukee Street, area intersections in Whitewater

WHITEWATER—The Wisconsin Department of Transportation plans to update roads and make room for bicyclists when it resurfaces and reconstructs parts of Milwaukee Street and area intersections in 2019.

The future projects are scheduled to begin in spring 2019 and could cost up to $4.1 million, Gary Metzer, DOT project manager, said. The projects are necessary to meet updated roadway standards.

The project will:

-- Replace concrete pavement on Milwaukee Street from Newcomb to Clay streets, add a 5-foot-wide bicycle lane and a 5-foot-wide sidewalk. Simultaneously, the city will replace storm and sanitary sewer lines and a water main along the roadway.

-- Patch Milwaukee Streetfrom Clay Street to Sunrise Lane and resurface it with asphalt. Create a new 5-foot-wide sidewalk.

-- Replace gravel shoulders and ditches on Milwaukee Street from Sunrise Lane to just south of Old County P; pave the shoulders with gravel, and add curb, sidewalk, gutter and a bicycle lane.

--Remove parts of asphalt on Milwaukee Street from Old County P to Highway 12, resurface it with asphalt and widen the shoulder for a bicycle lane.

Simultaneously, the DOT will complete a project at the intersections of Newcomb and East Main streets and Newcomb and Milwaukee streets.The railroad crossing at Newcomb and East Main will have gates added to alert traffic. New concrete pavement and sidewalks also will be constructed.

At Newcomb and Milwaukee streets, raised medians, new concrete pavement and sidewalks will be added.

Talk about both projects began more than two years ago. It has not been decided if the project will be completed in one phase or in multiple phases.

The tentative plan, according to the DOT project manager, is to begin construction in April 2019 and finish in November 2019.

Construction staging will happen closer to the start date. Entrances to business and homes will be maintained and will have as few interruptions as possible, Metzer said.

“Our goal is to complete the design of our project and then build both projects together at the same time, thus impacting the city of Whitewater the least we can,” he said

The roadway project is estimated to cost $2.6 million, while the railroad intersection project is estimated at $1.5 million and the city's sewer and water project is estimated at $500,000.